LUCK

To get some luck or to work with fulfillment, do this...

The Indian Spirituality Way


L - for Long
U - Uninterruptedly
C - Choose Shreyas (goodness) over Preyas (passion)
K - KrishnArpanam or Krishna Unakke Preethi or something like Krishna, I dedicate the results to You

The above is a clubbing of ideas from the Pathanjali Yoga, Katha Upanishad and the Bhagavad Gita.

One way to interpret, which I personally find useful for me, is...basically on one side one takes in enjoyments and on the other side one has to give out as work. While enjoying, when one leaves out passionate grabbing and takes in the good which comes for free, one minimizes the debt to the society. Also, when one relinquishes the good results, one becomes entitled to be set free of the bad results as well. It then becomes easy to practice what Krishna says...When one offers to Me with devotion a leaf, water, fruit or flower, that I accept from the striving self, as it is offered with devotion. This way, there is the minimizing of wastage both in enjoyments and efforts, and benefits go to the intended ones.

The Middle Way

L - for Long
U - Uninterruptedly
C - Choose the Middle Way i.e. neither spiritual self-mortification nor material self-indulgence
K - Kala factor (Time factor...do things at the appropriate time)

The Mensa Way

L - for Long
U - Uninterruptedly
C - Choose the better option
K - Kala factor (Time factor...choose within the given time)

Okay, Arv...thanks for these wonderful tips. But do you follow these? Or have you proved these techniques in your life?

(Arv squirms, wriggles uncomfortably and screws up the face to get an answer)

Arv: It is for me to say and for you to hear and anyone to follow.

:)

On Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi

While I read the book on Meditation for Dummies, i got a couple of ideas clarified and I would like to share it with you.

Dharana is concentration or focus on a single object. I have found that using the metaphor of training a puppy helps. The mind keeps wandering but one just has to bring it back, however far it has wandered off. With every bringing back, the resistance to meditation decreases and one gets lengtheir and more frequent periods of meditation.

Dhyana can be called as receptive-awareness. Only a recptive mind can absorb the efforts of Dharana. When one is asked to open, there is immediately the fear of vulnerability. But then, when one practises anywhere between 20-120 minutes of spirituality like meditation, the rest of the day will more or less be an outcome of what was practised as an exercise. This is the Law of Attraction. You don't even need to understand abstract ideas like these when you can understand that a 5 minutes of drama rehearsal breaks the ice among the different actors. Since one has practised only what's beneficial, one can feel safe about being receptive to the experiences one comes across everyday. The other thing about Dhyana, which is, awareness, can be understood this way...as soon as one starts meditating, one is no more driven by the current of one's life atleast during the meditative period. So instead of being an actor or a player in one's own life, one becomes an audience or spectator. Such a change brings about a different viewpoint about one's own life script or story or reality. This leads to insight.

The paradox of Samadhi is that it is attained fastest when it is not aspired for. When one has made a lot of spiritual progress and is on the verge of nirvana or liberation or moksha or salvation or whatever name one gives it, the natural tendency is to leap over the last step anxiously. This results in even pleading for one's own cause forgetting for a moment that all that is required is to just carry on from 99th step to 100th step like how one stepped from 1st to 2nd or from 76th to 77th. Infact, asking for such a wish cannot liberate but only bind because it is by the absense of selfishness that one steps forward. So, what can one feel good about at this stage of waiting? One can become aware that one's normal way of living as expected discharging the responsibilities is satisfying others and this brings in some sortof fulfilment. Over time, one automatically gets carried into the transcendent state.

That's all, folks. I have written a lot on spirituality in my blogs. there is nothing more to add on spirituality that I know of after this which matters. Some of you might have seen my older blogs where I lived terrible life. I have also posted personal stories about my life. I have also posted many things over twitter, facebook, answer websites and forums. My understanding have not been always clear but now I can say that I have told you everything I know about life without falsifying or hiding anything. Maybe it's not in a readable format. Maybe you can use them as pointers or guide. But please go to a proper Guru to understand how to practise it because I'm really not a Guru material. All the best.

I will ofcourse continue posting my personal tidbits. Thanks for reading this.

Teamwork

I came across a great, interesting and enlightening article by Sir Vivian Richards (The King of Oneday Cricket' according to an impact on cricket measurement website) in 'The Week' magazine (the World Cup 2011 Indian edition where 12 previous and current experts where I caught the essence of teamwork. A game like Cricket or Football has an extra interesting item over a game like Tennis or Chess in the form of team work. I used to like this way back in childhood without having any understanding that even such a thing exists. While single player games itself involve multiple co-ordination, multi player games just take it to the heights.

Anyway, he was mentioning about his experience in the 1979 World Cup when West Indies won the tournament (As I write this, WI has just got out of this year's WC). There he was telling how he was batting with Collis King and how as he was going really well, Richards simply rotated the strike, thereby complementing him, instead of trying to outcompete him. And once Collis King got out, Richards went for his big shots and the innings ended in him hitting a last ball 6 from an impossible to play inswinging yorker.

This sort of play even became a model soon later when cricket teams used to incorporate a steady player and a striking player (like Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Shrikkanth). But soon this model deteriorated because players really didn't understand the reason behind it. They just thought that one slow paced player and one fast-paced player will be good in any situation when instead both might be playing defensive or both attacking in their respective styles.

So basically, I sort of understood that team work doesn't mean either at any time not doing anything or doing everything but instead playing a complimentary role (2 player) some time or supplementary role (multi-player) most of the time AND taking the initiative at the call of the hour. In this way, both the responsibilities and joy gets shared equally and there is resonance or flow or sync or whatever one associates team work with.

Thanks, Sir Vivian Richards.

No attachments please...

Sometime back, and even now, there is or was support for me in terms of sponsorship or cover, whichever way one puts it. Some given without expectations of anything in return and some with expectations. There is nothing morally wrong in either except that expectations from attachments all someday fizzle out, as was the case. I sincerely do not expect anything from anyone and it is my request that you desist from going out of the way for our good. I do whatever is my responsibility towards the society and I hope you have the same view.

To the Japanese people...

I once came upon a great piece of Zen wisdom which was in a book called 'Manase, Relax Please' by Swami Sukhbhogananda. It helped me very much and I think it is very relevant to the Japanese people today when they are facing a natural disaster that may aggravate further. I remember posting this story somewhere before itself.

A village was facing a severe drought and the villagers didn't know what to do. There passed upon a traveling monk and the people told him the situation and asked for any suggestion. The monk asked for a spot in the village to meditate and started meditating. Soon, the clouds formed and rain started pouring. The villagers became happy and asked him how he could do it. The Zen monk replied that as he sat there, he made himself calm and since there is a definite interaction between him and his environment, the atmosphere which had till now been unruly and unpredictable, became calm as well and the rain that was to pour on time poured.

Today, Japan needs people to be calm, collected and rooted in themselves.

The Japanese are a great and generous people who have helped many countries with their wisdom, management techniques, financial aid etc. and the world has to do everything in it's capacity to get them back on their feet. I'm sure they will recover fast.

When nature seems cruel, please remember...

1. Grace is available (for free), all around us, even though it might not be obvious.
2. Grace cannot help someone unless one asks for it (or allows it).
3. It is a joy and responsibility for someone to access (or have) Grace because this will let him or her to extend it to those around as well.

These three are true and useful by themselves separately but when they are understood together, they will bring about a faster, complete and lasting healing.

My dear Muslim bros...

Knowingly or unknowingly, wittingly or unwittingly, intentionally or unintentionally, I have done you a favour. I do not ask for anything in return except to read this post with care. You don't need to do anything good for me, bad...I leave it to your discretion. But I would like you to be nice to my GF. Just like me, my GF is also a true Muslim and so please forgive any trespasses as you would like a good Muslim. My GF always remembers a favour. May Allah be praised.

I repeat it

I'm not aligned with any and neither do I expect any preferential treatment from any. I know that by being like this I make a lot of friends and enemies. And I know that there are those within my own circle who is going to find this inconvenient and will be against me. And frankly it doesn't bother me.

Go back to the source. Not to a hole

I know the value of money. And what can be called the limits of human decency. That is why I turned down a job offer some days back. I was well aware that this is going to make my life pretty difficult, which has already gone overboard.

I never understood the sweat of my father when he paid for my college fees. So I didn't study well. Today, I know the value of a single rupee and that is why I even went on to donate a few thousand rupees to change a single life without telling my mom. And I didn't want some politician today who claims to be a hero or captain going further down in morals. The same one is today in bed with the one, antagonistic just a little bit earlier.

Thanks, but no thanks.